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Monday, December 19, 2016

The Prophetic Voice of Libertarian Christians

The election of Donald J. Trump as the 45th President of
the United States will be a catalyst for various sorts of changes in
America. One political adjustment is already occurring. This can be seen
in the millions of Americans who opposed specific actions and policies
of Barack Obama and the Democrats. Now that Trump and the Republicans
have control of both the White House and Congress, many of those actions
and policies will begin to be applauded by these same people.
Alternatively, other Americans who approved of Obama’s agenda will now
begin to oppose some of these agenda items once Republicans claim them
as their own. We, as libertarian Christians, must be on guard to avoid
this trap and remain principled no matter who controls the State.

Some Christians are said to be speaking “prophetically” when they
offer opinions contrary to the prevailing views of the political party
currently in power. I say “some Christians” because the complimentary
label “prophetic” is typically reserved for members of the Christian
left when they are denouncing Republicans and conservatism. Jim Wallis
of Sojourners is one typical example. In an ad for a speaking event
earlier this year, Wallis was referred to
as “One of America’s Greatest Prophetic Voices.” Acting and speaking
“prophetically,” however, is best seen as a non-partisan, equal
opportunity affair. When someone is said to have a prophetic voice it
means, simply speaking, they are consistently willing to clearly speak
truth to power no matter who is in power and despite the consequences.

Jim Wallis used his prophetic voice during the Bush administration to
speak against the war in Iraq, American imperialism, torture, and the
“money changers of the temples of Wall Street” among other things.
However, Jim curiously came down with a case of prophetic laryngitis
during the years 2008-2016. I wonder why. Coincidentally, these just so
happen to be the years Barack Obama served as President.

This silence was emblematic of the left as a whole. Gone were the
concerns over the ever-growing surveillance state, the exponential
expansion of drone warfare, and imperialistic ambitions abroad. No more
protests against the wars in the Middle East. No more calls for the
closure of Guantanamo Bay prison.

As it turned out, prophetic voices were needed more than ever during
the Obama administration. As Gene Healy of the Cato Institute put it in April of this year, “By the time Obama hit the dais at Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, our 44th president had already launched more drone strikes than the 43rd carried out during two full terms. Since then, he’s launched two undeclared wars, and—as Obama bragged in a speech last year defending the Iran deal—bombed no fewer than seven countries.”
Healy adds, “instead of ‘breaking the war mentality,’ Obama has
institutionalized it.” Many on the Christian left were content to either
ignore or give outright sanction to what they once condemned in order
to protect one of their own. The prophetic voice became a rubber stamp.

The prophetic voice of the Christian right was tested prior to the
2016 election. “Never Trumpers” came down with a strange case of
conscience during and after the primaries. By and large, these were
individuals who had a long track record of supporting the least
conservative, most “establishment” GOP candidates for President. When
most conservatives were saying “anyone but McCain” and “anyone but
Romney,” future Never Trumpers were telling everyone to get in line.
They ridiculed fellow conservatives for considering a third party
candidate or simply not voting.

Then in 2016 when establishment candidates, Jeb Bush followed by
Marco Rubio, were unable to secure the nomination, the Never Trumpers
all of a sudden became very interested in writing in protest votes, not
voting, or supporting an independent candidate, former CIA agent Evan
McMullin. Falling in line behind the nominee was not an option now that
roles were reversed. Never Trumpers even went so far as to begin
referring to “the Religious Right” as if they were not a part of the
Religious Right themselves. This epithet was now reserved only for the
evangelical supporters of Donald Trump. However disingenuously it may
have begun, the Never Trump movement may perhaps represent the beginning
of a new willingness among some conservative Christians to stand up to
the Republican Party when it contradicts their deeply-held beliefs. Will
they begin to represent a prophetic voice during the Trump
administration?

Now that Trump is headed to the White House, conservatives are
already showing a willingness to change their tune as the left did under
Obama. Donald Trump is being widely applauded for convincing Carrier
Corp. to keep over 1,000 jobs in America rather than sending them to
Mexico. Trump utilized his “art of the deal” skills to pledge a $7
million tax break to Carrier. Success! He’s already making America great
again! But just a few short years ago conservatives were blasting
President Obama for “picking winners and losers” by extending millions
of dollars worth of federal loan guarantees to companies including
Solyndra and Fisker Automotive.

Obama considered these loans “investments” but critics such as House
Speaker Paul Ryan complained, “Picking winners and losers in the economy
through spending, through tax breaks, through regulations does not
work.” In one of his presidential debates with Obama, Mitt Romney quipped,
“You don’t just pick the winners and losers, you pick the losers!”
Obama wasn’t supposed to interfere, he was supposed to let the market
work. Now, rather than reducing taxes for all businesses (which
may soon be around the corner) Trump has given a tax break to one
specific company. He picked a winner. This is what Republicans used to
call “crony capitalism” during the Obama administration. I guess the
market needs help now and then just so long as a Republican is in
charge.

What might a prophetic voice look like moving forward? For the
Christian left, it’s now safe to rejoin the anti-war effort. Or is it?
Trump has indicated a desire to be far less interventionist than his
predecessors. If this is the case, Democrats may play the foil and
embrace a more hawkish agenda. Even if the party most sympathetic to
their views presses for the expansion of the war state, progressive
Christians ought to refuse to play along. They can regain their voice
rather than remaining silent as they did during the Obama years even if
it means undermining the Democrat Party. On the other hand, if
neo-conservatives have their way and are able to convince Trump to
continue foreign interventions, regime changes, drone warfare, and
worldwide arms sales, the peace movement could enjoy resurgence.

Conservative Christians face a great challenge. The temptation to
grow silent will become strong as Republicans now control the White
House, Congress, possibly the Supreme Court, and an ever-growing number
of state governments. Many of the criticisms against George W. Bush went
away during the Obama administration even when Obama continued or even
expanded the same policies. Will conservatives do the same thing now
that (arguably) one of their own is in charge? If it was wrong for
Obama, it ought to be wrong for Trump.

At the time of this writing, the New York Times has just published an op-ed from the NeverTrumper’s candidate, Evan McMullin, entitled, “Trump’s Threat to the Constitution.”
McMullin warns, “We need a new era of civic engagement that will
reawaken us to the cause of liberty and equality. That engagement must
extend to ensuring that our elected representatives uphold the
Constitution, in deed and discourse — even if doing so puts them at odds
with their party. We cannot allow Mr. Trump to normalize the idea that
he is the ultimate arbiter of our rights.” Agreed! Will “upholding the
Constitution” now include repealing unconstitutional mass surveillance
programs and police state powers, reversing the trend of perpetual
(undeclared) war, and an unending list of property rights violations?
Donald Trump is not the arbiter of our rights but neither is
Evan McMullin, Paul Ryan, or whoever the next favorite of conservatives
turns out to be.

Of course, the best thing progressive and conservative Christians can
both do is reconsider their ways and take a long, hard look at the most consistent expression of Christian political thought!
So, what about libertarian Christians? Some libertarians refuse to
vote on principle, others voted for the Libertarian Party candidate but
privately breathed a sigh of relief when Hillary Clinton lost, and
others would have gladly had Hillary forced upon us rather than Trump.
The message of liberty ought to remain consistent regardless of who wins
and loses elections. We continue to renounce aggression and coercion.
We continue to uphold the value of each individual made in the image of
God and peaceful interactions with our neighbors. We continue to embrace
persuasion and education, education, education. Moving forward, we can
renew our efforts to join God in what he is doing to build his kingdom
regardless of what the State does.

On a practical note, libertarian Christians can best express a
prophetic voice by getting our hands dirty in kingdom mission. As
theologian Scot McKnight puts it in his wonderful book, Kingdom Conspiracy,
“At the very heart of kingdom mission are kingdom people, the church of
King Jesus. In one short expression, then, kingdom mission is first and
foremost church mission.” Yes, church mission. When is the
last time we sought to “do something” about the world’s problems we like
to talk so much about as an expression of the love of our local church?
What if the time, attention, passion, angst, frustration, hope,
volunteering, and maybe even money we devoted to the presidential
election and “politics” as a whole this past year were dedicated to the politics of kingdom mission as and through our local churches?

Libertarian Christians are good at talking about the superiority of
the kingdom of God over the State and the temporal kingdoms of
humankind. Do we do anything about this truth? In an interview
about his above-mentioned book, McKnight declares, “God’s mission is
the church, that is, God’s mission is the Body of Christ, that is, God’s
mission is to rule in Christ over those who submit to Christ’s rule.
Those who submit to that rule are kingdom people, that is, church
people. God’s mission is the church.” The most prophetic voice we could
express is living and loving as the church in the world. If we can’t
begin to live this out in the tangible context of our local churches,
how can we expect to speak prophetically in the ethereal context of “the
world”? My encouragement for us as libertarian Christians in light of
this last election, or any election, or if there were no elections, is
to creatively and constructively devote ourselves in practical ways to
our King’s mission together with his kingdom people, the church.

Jeff Wright, Jr.is a Chaplain in a "city of lost souls" and holds a Master of
Theology (ThM) from Dallas Theological Seminary. His other areas of
interest include the kingdom of God, American evangelicalism, the
ministry of the local church, obstacle course racing, and all things
Star Wars. He blogs at JeffWrightJr.com and the Libertarian Christian Institute. You can also find him @jeffwrightjr.

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Beloved child of God. Following Jesus the Christ. Allied with the uniquely beautiful kingdom of God. Prison Pastor, City of Crying Souls. *All statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official positions or views of my employer, my church, or anyone else.